Monthly Archives: June 2016

Last evening I had the distinct pleasure of speaking to the membership of the Lakeville Historical Society in Lakeville, Mass. Hosts Rita and Jim Gouveia made me feel instantly welcome, and everyone else was equally friendly and accommodating. In attendance was state representative Keiko Orral and her son, who is studying history. I discussed African American Faces of the Civil War and realized that with my navy book about to be published this may be one of the last of many times that I deliver this talk.

This visit reminded me of the important role played by the Lakeville Historical Society and other historical and genealogical groups across the country. They are on the front lines of history, gathering local relics and stories and preserving them for future generations. They also help me, for when I am researching men and women from the Civil War period I often turn to these organizations for assistance.

I salute Lakeville Historical Society for all that they’ve done in their 45 years of existence and wish them many more.

Please to announce that my next book in the Faces series will focus on nurses and other caregivers. I was inspired to take on this project after producing “Ministering Angels,” a gallery of original wartime portraits from the Chris Foard collection. The gallery appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Military Images magazine (I am editor and publisher).

Pictured here is one of the portraits from the Foard collection. Almira Newcomb McNaughton Lockwood Fales, a native of New York who was twice widowed, accompanied her third husband, Joseph T. Fales, to the nation’s capital, where “as early as 1860, from her extended knowledge of Southern feeling and action, she foresaw and predicted the struggle.” After war broke out in earnest, Fales dedicated herself to the care of wounded and sick boys in blue, and was present at a number of battles including Shiloh, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.

I am now searching for original, wartime, identified ambrotypes, cartes de visite and tintypes of caregivers. I am not seeking to purchase, simply to get high-resolution scans. You’ll receive credit and a complimentary copy of the book.